VCC Main Event Preview: Favorites, Historic Form, Exciting Matchups, and more: Valorant Conquerors Championship is a chance for South Asian teams to make it to the Champions, Valorant's biggest and year-end tournament. The winner of VCC will get a slot at APAC LCQ, and the winner of the LCQ will advance to the Champions. The VCC Main Event begins on the 20th of August, with a prize pool of $31,500 USD, for which 8 teams will compete online in the playoffs and finals stages respectively.
The Valorant Conqueror's Championship Main Event will be followed by: two qualifiers for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and one qualifier for Nepal and Bhutan, Sri Lanka and Maldives, Bangladesh, and one Wildcard Qualifier for teams that didn't win any of their qualifiers.
Qualified Teams for VCC playoffs:
The winners of the eight qualifiers are as shown. The eight teams consist of three teams from India, two from Pakistan and Afghanistan, one from Bangladesh, one from Sri Lanka and one from the Nepal regions respectively.
Favourites and Historic Form:
As there haven't been any international LANs in the South Asian region, it isn't easy to determine the relative quality of teams from different regions. Our editors have whitelisted a few favourites going into the event though:
1. Global Esports:
Hard to discount Global Esports after the year they've had in VALORANT. Arguably the best team in South Asia at the moment, with one of the best IGLs and specific role players respectively. Ganesh "SkRossi" Gangadhar has been dubbed the best Jett in India, and has had a Tenz-like reputation amongst his country men.
Global Esports have won 8 titles in their VALORANT year so far, and are not looking to back down any time soon. They have a 90% win rate in their last 20 series' and will be looking to only increase that number henceforth.
2. Velocity Gaming:
Velocity Gaming have seen a sudden upturn in form since they added Mohit "mw1" Wakle to their roster. On July 14, we interviewed Sagnik "hellf" Roy regarding VLT's recent form, and subsequently they went on to win VCC India Qualifier #1 and to beat Global Esports in two Grand Finals.
Velocity have a stake to claim the #1 place in India, at the minute, with their upturn in form, and are in contention for the best team in South Asia. They have a 80% winrate in their last 20 games, dropping series' to Enigma Gaming and others.
3. Salt Esports
Considered one of the best teams in Pakistan after winning the Pakistan and Afghanistan Qualifier #1 beating Team Exploit. They placed #2 in the VALORANT Jazbah Cup and won the MMO Valorant Cup, and from what we've seen they have a point to make in the VCC Main Event. Mehboob "tr1ck" Alam has shown very good performances on the Jett and he'll have a case to fight for the one of the best Jetts in South Asia.
Other strong teams like Team Exploit, Enigma Gaming have also shown very good results in the past. Enigma have won multiple titles in the recent months, but recently had Ghost snooped up by Team XO who did not manage to qualify to the Main Event. Enigma Gaming has defeated Velocity Gaming and Team XO recently. If their form in the ongoing TEC Gauntlet Season 2 is any indication, Enigma Gaming is an equal contender for the APAC LCQ slot.
Notable Matchups to look out for:
We've had some great rivalries built up in the South Asian scene, of which the most notable are going to be the Velocity Gaming v/s Global Esports matchup that we will hopefully get to see. This is referred to as the El Clasico of the Indian Scene, and we're sure will not disappoint if we get to see it again. These two teams have been at the apex of Indian VALORANT, pushing each other to new boundaries.
Enigma Gaming has also solidified its place in the Top 3 of the Indian scene, so lets hope we get to see them put out a performance against VLT and/or GE aswell!
Team Exploit v/s Salt Esports will be another derby to look out for as both have faced each other in the Domestic Pakistan and Afghanistan qualifier, and also previously in the Jazba Cup. The head to head is 1-1, and we're sure this derby won't lack anything less either.
The Format:
The teams will compete in two groups of 4, with double elimination in the playoffs and the finals stage. Two teams from each group qualify for the Finals stage, where they will compete in a double elimination bracket aswell, with the winning team qualifying for the APAC Last Chance Qualifier.
How to watch:
You can catch the official live stream over here, starting at 2:00 PM IST, August the 20th. We're looking forward to who's going to make it to the APAC Last Chance Qualifiers, and win the VCC Main Event.